


May 2nd, 2050

by Morbidmuch



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: AU, Battle of Hogwarts, F/M, Fluff, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Melancholy, Post-Hogwarts, Severus Snape Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-03-02 08:53:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23968669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Morbidmuch/pseuds/Morbidmuch
Summary: In the spring, she enjoys sitting in the garden.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Severus Snape
Comments: 9
Kudos: 92
Collections: Hearts and Cauldrons Discord Members, Hot Buttered Cottage Prawn





	May 2nd, 2050

**Author's Note:**

> On May 2nd 1998, the Battle of Hogwarts took place.
> 
> This little fic popped up in my head as a remembrance of that day. I hope you'll enjoy.

In the spring, she enjoys sitting in the garden. With a nice book and a cup of tea (the special blend that is called Swot), she can sit there for hours. He once joked that, should he ever come home and not find her, he could always count on finding her in the garden.

It's peaceful, sitting among the elm trees and rhododendron bushes. The weather doesn't always allow for long garden sittings, though. This is Britain, after all. But this year the weather has been on its best behaviour. He laughed when she came inside with a pink nose after sitting in the sun too long on an uncommonly hot day, then smiled softly as he applied aloe potion to her burnt skin.

On this day, though, it's chucking it down. Curled up in the conservatory, she looks longingly out at the blossoming garden. A cup of tea is placed on the table in front of her, and he grabs her knee as he sits down.

“You all right, love?” he asks, rubbing his thumb over the fabric of her trousers. He knows how difficult this day still is for her, so many years later. It's not easy for him either. Do you ever really get over the day you almost died?

Her smile is soft, eyes warm. “I'm fine. I just wish I could sit out in the garden.” Her hand grabs his, entwining their fingers.

“Tomorrow. We'll sit in the garden tomorrow.”

She turns her face back towards the greenery, but not before reaching for the cup. She inhales the aroma of the brew deeply. It's no wonder, with a nose like his, that he is excellent at tea. He started making his own blends a few years after the war, and they became so popular with their friends that he started up a tea shop in Diagon Alley after he left Hogwarts. It does very nicely, and though he doesn't spend as much time in the shop as he used to, he still makes every blend himself.

While she watches the garden, he watches her. Though no less wild, her curls are less bushy these days and takes on a golden hue when the sun hits it. To him, she's no less beautiful than she was that day in his office when she proclaimed that she fancied him and would he like to go for dinner. That was, bloody hell, forty years ago. He was completely sidelined by her persistence and he's never been more grateful for anything in his not so miserable life. She spent several years at Hogwarts, teaching Transfiguration and Heading the proud house of Gryffindor, until she one day entered their chambers and announced that she was quitting.

She sighs deeply and twists to look at him. The rain on the windows makes it harder to see the garden. “I should Floo Ginny.”

“In a little bit,” he says and she nods because she knows it's too early still. Maybe later tonight. The children (they're adults now really, with children of their own) will have gone then, and Ginny will be alone. Yes, she'll Floo Ginny later.

She sips her tea. They've built a nice life for themselves, first at Hogwarts, then in her tiny flat in London, then here at the cottage in the Cotswolds. She was young when they moved in, barely thirty and even then she fell in love with the garden. That first year she spent more time outside than indoors, only being coaxed inside by his touch and the smell of food. They have loved and laughed and fought and made up and cried in this house, and she has never been so happy in her entire life.

There is a sudden onset of tears, and she quickly puts the cup down so she can swipe at them. “I miss him,” she says, and the garden is blurry because of the rain and because she's crying.

“I know you do,” he says, voice comforting. Then he chuckles. “I do too.”

Determined, she nods. “I'll Floo Ginny later. I want to see if the rain lets up, first.” She clutches his hand tighter. “I really wanted to sit outside in the garden.”

He smiles slightly, just the one corner of his mouth that twitches upwards and she loves that smile and she loves him. “I know, love. We'll sit here until the rain stops.”

And so Hermione and Severus sit in the conservatory, looking out at the garden and waiting for the rain to stop.


End file.
